Which is the most vibrant business city in China? Forbes Magazine has for the first time answered the question by releasing a 2004 mainland's best business city ranking. And surprisingly neither Shanghai nor Beijing are very high on the list.

The survey looked at 191 Chinese cities whose 2002 GDP was above 10 billion yuan. The survey considered private economy, market scale and potential, human resources, operating costs and traffic situation to rank the top 100 cities.

While most people regard Shanghai as a top choice investment destination, neighbouring city Hangzhou took the title by ranking high in overall business strength. Another eastern Chinese city, Ningbo, took second place, while northeast Dalian got the third.

Shanghai only ranked 4th and Beijing 6th. Forbes says that although Shanghai is the country's first in many business areas, soaring housing prices, traffic problems, and a high population all affected the city's overall business performance.

Source: CRI news